Conditioners and colorants for hair and skin are well-known and frequently used personal care products. The major problem with current conditioners and non-oxidative colorants is that they lack the required durability for long-lasting effects. Oxidative hair dyes provide long-lasting color, but the oxidizing agents they contain cause hair damage. In order to improve the durability of hair and skin care compositions, peptide-based hair conditioners, hair colorants, and other benefit agents have been developed (Huang et al., copending and commonly owned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0050656, and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0226839). Peptide-based sunscreens have also been described (Buseman-Williams et al., copending and commonly owned U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0249682; and Lowe et al., copending and commonly owned U.S. Patent Application No. 60/737,042). The peptide-based benefit agents are prepared by coupling a specific peptide sequence that has a high binding affinity to hair or skin with a benefit agent, such as a conditioning or coloring agent. The peptide portion binds to the hair or skin, thereby strongly attaching the benefit agent. These peptide-based benefit agents provide improved durability, but require the coupling of the binding peptide to the benefit agent.
Peptides with a high binding affinity to hair have been identified using phage display screening techniques (Huang et al., supra; Estell et al. WO 0179479; Murray et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0098524; Janssen et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0152976; and Janssen et al., WO 04048399). Additionally, empirically generated hair and skin-binding peptides that are based on positively charged amino acids have been reported (Rothe et., WO 2004/000257).
Cornwell et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,361) describe a method for reducing color loss from hair treated with an oxidative hair dye comprising contacting the hair, either before or after treatment of the hair with the oxidative hair dye, with an organic amino compound, such as basic amino acids, urea, guanidine, and salts or mixtures thereof. However, that disclosure does not describe the use of specific hair-binding or skin-binding peptides, or conjugates comprising hair-binding or skin-binding peptides coupled to a benefit agent as sealants for colorants and conditioners.
The problem to be solved, therefore, is to provide alternative methods to enhance the durability of conditioners and colorants for hair and skin that are simple and easy to implement.
Applicants have addressed the stated problem by discovering that the effects of traditional and non-traditional colorants, conditioners, and other benefit agents are enhanced with the application of a peptide-based sealant.